1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for real time process monitoring and, more specifically, to methods and systems for monitoring chemical or biological test process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Blood and other body fluid tests are important diagnostic methods in patient care and treatment. The reliability and the accuracy of the tests are critical in correctly diagnosing the patient and administrating proper treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established numerous quality standards for the various blood or body fluid tests. Monitoring the test process is beneficial in producing reliable and accurate test results.
One way of monitoring the test process is periodically performing the monitoring test on standard test samples. The monitoring test results are compared with expected results to verify the accuracy of the test processes or correct the test instrument or process when appropriate. In this approach, the test processes are assumed to generate consistent result between the monitoring tests.
Another way of monitoring the test process is including standard test samples in the test process. This approach is suitable for a test process that performs tests on multiple samples. The test results on the standard test samples are compared with expected results to verify the accuracy of the test processes. In this approach, the test processes on real samples are assumed to generate result consistent with those on standard test samples.
These monitoring processes are time and cost inefficient. They are deficient in meeting the needs of point of care, e.g., emergency room, test processes. In addition to being reliable and accurate, an emergency room test process should be simple to operate and generate results fast.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have an apparatus and a method for monitoring a test process that is continuous, simple, and reliable. It is desirable for the test apparatus to be compact and capable of generating test results fast thereby meeting the need of the emergency rooms. It would be of further advantage for the apparatus and method to be easily adaptable for monitoring different test processes.